§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many outworkers, who are gainfully employed in their own homes, are there estimated to be at the present time in each of the main regions, what occupations are they engaged in and how many in each of these occupations; what proportion are, respectively, men and women, what is their age breakdown, and what is the average wage paid and the estimated range of wages.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithI regret the information requested is not available. There is a requirement for employers of outworkers in a limited number of trades to send lists of names and addresses of their outworkers to local authorities300W twice a year, but the local authorities do not publish the figures and there is no collation of them. My Department therefore has no statistics of outworkers.
Home workers in certain industries come within scope of wages councils and their employers are required to pay them not less than the statutory minima prescribed. The wages councils are: Boot and Shoe Repairing; Brush and Broom; Button Manufacture; Corset; Dressmaking and Women's Light Clothing; Fur; Hat, Cap and Millinery; Lace Finishing; Linen and Cotton Handkerchief and Household Goods; Made-up Textiles; Ostrich and Fancy Feather and Artificial Flower; Paper Box; Pin, Hook and Eye, and Snap Fastener; Ready-made and Wholesale Bespoke Tailoring; Retail Bespoke Tailoring; Rope, Twine and Net; Rubber-proofed Garment Making; Shirtmaking; Toy Manufacture; Wholesale Mantle and Costume.